Cassandra Graikowski-Hainsworth (born on the 6th of May 1996), is a junior British Finswimmer,  living and training in Tenerife, Spain.

On a Domestic level, Cassandra currently swims for C.N. Reales in Los Realejos/Tenerife. Living in Spain she participates in most major finswimming competitions in this country and has been at the top of the national ranking list in her two favourite disciplines (50m surface and 50m apnea), at various times. In the past she used to swim for Club de Natacíon Océano in Puerto de la Cruz/Tenerife, for whom she competed in various national championships.

Internationally Cassandra competes for Great Britain, because of her English nationality. The club she is then registered with is Five Oak Green Hoppers Sports Club in Kent/England. In 2010 she represented Great Britain in the Junior World Championship 2010 in Palma de Mallorca/Spain [1]. She was the youngest participating athlete at that championship and the first Great Britain had sent for several years.

After initially being trained by Canarian Finswimming Trainer Juan Carlos Sanchez Lopez, she trained for the Junior World Championships with her dad, Jens Graikowski, who keeps on preparing her for the competitions and championships to come.

Early Life

Cassandra Graikowski-Hainsworth was born and raised on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands/Spain. Her father, Jens Graikowski, is a truck driver of German Nationality, while her mother, Samantha Hainsworth, is English and works as a language teacher. She began swimming at the age of three, when her parents enlisted her in a swimming course in the hotel Turquesa in Tenerife. For the first three weeks she didn't take to the water at all, which was about to change very soon. In 2001 she became member of the Club de Natacíon Reales in Los Realejos/Tenerife, where she practiced classic swimming until the year 2006. That was when her swim trainer Juan Carlos Sanchez Lopez, who was also a licensed finswimming trainer for FEDECAS (Federación Canaria de Actividades Subacuáticas), introduced the monofin to the swimmers of the club for the first time. Impressed by the speed and elegance of finswimming Cassandra decided, that was the sport she wanted to do. Participations in several local and regional competitions followed, where Graikowski-Hainsworth quickly displayed a talent for the sport.

In 2008 her trainer left C.N. Reales for undisclosed reasons and moved to C.N. Océano in the neighboring town of Puerto de la Cruz. Cassandra's parents decided to follow him there, since there was no other finswimming trainer at C.N. Reales and their daughter was determent to carry on with her chosen sport, rather than returning to classic swimming. She started participating on a national level now, competing in the Campeonato de España - Infantil-Cadete 2009 in Pamplona [2], which was followed by the Campeonato de España - Infantil-Cadete 2010 in Barcelona [3] and the Campeonato de España - Junior-Senior 2010 in Torrevieja [4] the year after.

Her real break as a finswimmer occurred when she was brought to the attention of Alaric Smith, the president of the BFA (British Finswimming Association), by an article in a local English newspaper. He invited her to participate for Great Britain in the next JWC in finswimming. By then her trainer had left C.N. Océano and her father took over the training of the finswimming department of the club. Being a self-taught trainer he welcomed the thought to participate in a world championship to meet with the best athletes and trainers of the sport and therefore create a unique learning opportunity for his daughter and himself. Cassandra went as the youngest competitor and managed to better most of her PBs (Personal Bests) as well as finishing her 50 m Apnea as the highest placed British female finswimmer ever. Her 400 m time also set a new British Record [5].

National competitions

Campeonato de España - Infantil-Cadete 2009

Campeonato de España - Infantil-Cadete 2009 Competitor for C.N. Océano,  Spain Disclipline Place Time 50m sf  3rd 00:23:90 [6] 25m apnea  disqu. ---:---:--- [7] 100m sf  3rd 00:52:84 [8] 400m sf  3rd 04:31:15 [9]

The Campeonato de España - Infantil-Cadete 2009 was Cassandra's first national competition, taking place from the 27th to the 28th of June 2009 in Pamplona/Spain.  Competing in the category "Infantil" and still very unexperienced, she got disqualified in her 25m apnea [7], which was a shame, because it was her strongest discipline and her time was her PB. In all other disciplines she secured 3rd places [2].

Campeonato de España - Infantil-Cadete 2010

Campeonato de España - Infantil-Cadete 2010 Competitor for C.N. Océano,  Spain Disclipline Place Time 50m sf  1st 00:22:41 [10] 50m apnea  3rd 00:21:50 [11] 200m sf  4th 01:53:88 [12] 400m sf  3rd 04:03:58 [13]

The two days from the 26th to the 27th of June 2010 brought Cassandra's second Campeonato de España - Infantil-Cadete, in Barcelona/Spain. Now competing in the category "Cadette", She fulfilled the expectations set by herself and her parents with one 1st place [10], two 3rds [11][13] and one 4th [12]. Unlike the previous year, she now had to swim the 50m apnea instead of 25m and came in 3rd [11]. Her trainer chose to enter her in the 200m sf instead of the 100m where she came 4th [12] and she surprised everybody with an excellent 1st place in 50m sf [10].

Campeonato de España - Junior-Senior 2010

Campeonato de España - Junior-Senior 2010 Competitor for C.N. Océano,  Spain Disclipline Place Time 50m apnea  4th 00:20:63 [14] 50m sf  4th 00:22:30 [15] 100m sf 5th 00:49:79 [16] 200m sf  4th 01:53:67 [17]

From the 17th to the 18th of July 2010 Graikowski-Hainsworth competed in the Campeonato de España - Junior-Senior 2010, though according to her age, she was still a "Cadette" (one category lower). Despite of being younger than the other competitors, she still managed to secure three 4th [14][15][17] and one 5th place [16].

International Competitions

Junior World Championship in Finswimming 2010

Junior World Championship in Finswimming 2010 Competitor for  Great Britain Disclipline  Place  Time  50m sf  disqu. ---:---:--- [18] 50m apnea  21st  00:20:31 [19] 100m sf 28th  00:50:54 [20] 400m sf   26th   04:02:55 [21]

Her first international competition was intended more as a learning experience than actual competing. Cassandra entered the championship as the youngest competitor, and the first British athlete for many years. The main reason for entering was, that her father and trainer wanted her to get some experience in international competitions and for her and himself to learn, what they needed to know to improve Cassandra's technique and performance. Jens Graikowski is not a learned or qualified Finswimming trainer, but for the lack of another trainer on the island of Tenerife he had to take over the training of his daughter after Juan Carlos Sanchez left C.N. Océano, the club they were training with. He hoped to learn the ropes by meeting and talking to the world's best trainers at the JWC, which turned out even better than anticipated.

The championship started well on the first day with 00:20:31 in 50m apnea [19]; her PB and also the highest placing of a British female Finswimmer ever [5]. The second day started as a disaster. In one of her stronger disciplines (50m sf) she was disqualified [18] after breaking up her race only 5 meter before the finish line. She breathed in water about 15 m before finish and despite trying to complete the heat couldn't carry on. Cassandra then proved though, why she is one of the most promising British finswimmers in current times. Despite the devastating impact of the 50m sf heat in the morning she managed to re-motivate herself and enter the 400m sf heat with new stamina. She did her PB, won the heat, ended up on 26th place over all  [21] and also set a new British record [5].

Personal Bests

Trainers

Her first trainer, and the one who introduced Cassandra to Finswimming, was Juan Carlos Sanchez Lopez. A qualified classic swimming trainer and "Entrenador superior de natacíon con aletas" Sanchez is also the current head of the committee for Finswimming inside FEDECAS, the Canarian Association for Underwater Sports. He first introduced Finswimming to the Canary Islands in  the late 1990s and started the sport in C.N. Reales in Los Realejos/Tenerife, the swimming club where he was training Cassandra in Classic-swimming, in 2001. Due to reasons not further specified, he left the club in 2008 to start training the Finswimming section of the newly founded club C.N. Océano in neighboring Puerto de la Cruz.

After Sanchez left C.N. Océano as well, after a period of only one year, both the club and Cassandra were left without a trainer. That was, when her father Jens Graikowski took over training the Finswimming section of the club, for the lack of a more qualified alternative. Graikowski had very little experience in training a Finswimming team though. He practiced the sport himself briefly, as part of his scuba diving training when he was young, but an injury suffered during a heavy accident as a child prevented him from doing so at a competitive level. His interest was rekindled, when both his daughters took up the sport. Though the youngest, Anastasia Graikowski-Hainsworth, returned to Classic-swimming, the older one, Cassandra, stuck with the "Formula One" of the sport. Jens Graikowski was now forced to educate himself rapidly to provide proper training for his daughter. Being a good friend of Juan Carlos Sanchez, the former trainer continued to support Cassandra and her father with advise and tips, but that proved not to be enough. Jens therefore turned to the Internet as a source of information, but found out quickly that the information that was available, was widely distributed all over the net. To make his new job easier and to concentrate all data available on Finswimming in one place, he founded the Finswimming community Fin City (closed down again in December 2010 for lack of activity) and later WikiFin. With the help of several dedicated friends and trainers all over the world, like Davide Manca (Italy), Vladimir Šoštarić (Croatia), Alaric Smith (England), Dirk Franke (Germany) and Charly Kastner (Austria) and the information he garnered through his two websites, Jens was able to continue with his daughters training.

Honors and awards 

On the 29th of May 2010, Cassandra Graikowski-Hainsworth was presented with the award of "Best Finswimmer of the town of Puerto de la Cruz for 2009" by the Mayor of Puerto de la Cruz/Tenerife at the "XX Gala del Deporte". The event was held in the impressive "Salón de Plenos" in the town hall of Puerto d. l. Cruz.

On Monday the 13th of June 2011 she was decorated by Àlvaro Pérez Domínguez, the President of the Department of Sport of the Canarian Government at the head quarters of the Canarian Underwater Sports Association in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The reason for the departments highest ranking official to come over from Gran Canaria to head the ceremony was her recent success at the open water competition in Barcelona on the 4th and 5th of June.

Resources

1. 11th Finswimming Junior World Championship - Palma (Mallorca) - Spain

2. Campeonato de España - Infantil-Cadete 2009 - Pamplona (Navarra) - Spain  Resultados

3. Campeonato de España - Infantil-Cadete 2010 - Barcelona - Spain  Resultados

4. Campeonato de España - Junior-Senior 2010 - Torrevieja (Alicante) - Spain  Resultados

5. BFA Blog, Post: "Congratulations Cassandra!"

6. Campeonato de España - Infantil-Cadete 2009 - Pamplona (Navarra) - Spain  Resultados, p. 3

7. Campeonato de España - Infantil-Cadete 2009 - Pamplona (Navarra) - Spain  Resultados, p 13

8. Campeonato de España - Infantil-Cadete 2009 - Pamplona (Navarra) - Spain  Resultados, p. 9

9. Campeonato de España - Infantil-Cadete 2009 - Pamplona (Navarra) - Spain  Resultados, p 8

10. Campeonato de España - Infantil-Cadete 2010 - Barcelona - Spain  Resultados, p. 5

11. Campeonato de España - Infantil-Cadete 2010 - Barcelona - Spain  Resultados, p. 16

12. Campeonato de España - Infantil-Cadete 2010 - Barcelona - Spain  Resultados, p. 12

13. Campeonato de España - Infantil-Cadete 2010 - Barcelona - Spain  Resultados, p. 18

14. Campeonato de España - Junior-Senior 2010 - Torrevieja (Alicante) - Spain  Resultados, p. 18

15. Campeonato de España - Junior-Senior 2010 - Torrevieja (Alicante) - Spain  Resultados, p. 5

16. Campeonato de España Infatil/Cadete 2011 - Barcelona/Spain

17. Campeonato de España - Junior-Senior 2010 - Torrevieja (Alicante) - Spain  Resultados, p. 17

18. 11th Finswimming Junior World Championship - Palma (Mallorca) - Spain, p. 48

19. 11th Finswimming Junior World Championship - Palma (Mallorca) - Spain, p. 95

20. 11th Finswimming Junior World Championship - Palma (Mallorca) - Spain, p. 3

21. 11th Finswimming Junior World Championship - Palma (Mallorca) - Spain, p. 69

22. 3° Control Federativo 2011 - Puerto de la Cruz/Tenerife

23. 1° Control Federativo 2011 - Santa Cruz de Tenerife

24. Ranking FEDAS (Federación Española de Actividades Subaquáticas) 01/09/2009 - 31/08/2010, p. 16

25. Ranking FEDAS (Federación Española de Actividades Subaquáticas) 01/09/2009 - 31/08/2010, p. 19

26. 2° Control Federativo 2011 - Los Cristianos/Tenerife

27. Campeonato de España de Gran Fondo de Natación con Aleta - Barcelona/Spain  Resultados, p. 1

External Links

• Cassandra Graikowski-Hainsworth at the BFA
• Cassandra Graikowski-Hainsworth at Finswimmers Magazine
• Cassandra Graikowski-Hainsworth - Training Video
• BFA (British Finswimming Association)
• FEDECAS (Federación Canaria de Actividades Subacuáticas)
• Five Oak Green Hoppers Sports Club
• C.N. Océano - Puerto de la Cruz - Tenerife/Spain